KPCU under ‘corporate fraud’, says MP

By PETER OPIYO

A receiver manager appointed to lead the debt-ridden Kenya Planters Cooperative Union did not register with the Registrar of Companies.

Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture John Mututho termed the entire receivership an illegality since the receiver manager was not registered.

The committee now wants Kenya Commercial Bank and Delloitte to own up for the mess. The report wants KCB to be liable and Delloitte be blacklisted. At the time KCB appointed Delloitte as receiver manager, KPCU owed KCB Sh656 million. Mututho termed it ‘a corporate fraud’.

This emerged as Parliament endorsed a report that called for the revival of the debt-ridden KPCU. The report recommended that Sh1.2 billion be injected into the debt-ridden planters union to bring it back to life. A document tabled by Mututho in Parliament said the receiver manager was not registered and that it has not filed annual returns from 1983 to 2007.

“From our records the receiver manager has not filed a notice of appointment of receivership with the registrar of companies,” said a letter from Alice Mwendwa, a State Counsel at the Registrar of Companies.

Mututho said all the machines at KPCU have been looted yet it is a union that has made significant economic contribution to this country.

He blamed the Executive for running down the giant planters union, claiming it happened with the blessings of the Cooperatives ministry.

Finance Minister Njeru Githae said his ministry was not appraised of the happenings but shared the view that KPCU should not be allowed to go under.

Mututho said the receivership at KPCU is an illegality and should not be allowed to carry on.

The letter by Ms Mwendwa said though the receiver manager filed returns for the year between 2008 to 2012, they were not audited.

“We have in our records annual returns for the year 2008 to 2012, however, they have not filed audited accounts as required,” states the latter.